New English Translation
Isaiah 16:3
3“Bring a plan, make a decision! Provide some shade in the middle of the day! Hide the fugitives! Do not betray the one who tries to escape!
Isaiah 16:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.
- New International Version (NIV)“Make up your mind,” Moab says. “Render a decision. Make your shadow like night— at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Give counsel; grant justice; make your shade like night at the height of noon; shelter the outcasts; do not reveal the fugitive;
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Take counsel, execute judgment; Make your shadow like the night in the middle of the day; Hide the outcasts, Do not betray him who escapes.
Context of Isaiah 16:3
1Send rams as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela in the desert to the hill of Daughter Zion. 2At the fords of the Arnon the Moabite women are like a bird that flies about when forced from its nest. “Bring a plan, make a decision! Provide some shade in the middle of the day! Hide the fugitives! Do not betray the one who tries to escape! 4Please let the Moabite fugitives live among you. Hide them from the destroyer!” Certainly the one who applies pressure will cease, the destroyer will come to an end, those who trample will disappear from the earth. 5Then a trustworthy king will be established; he will rule in a reliable manner, this one from David’s family. He will be sure to make just decisions and will be experienced in executing justice.
Read all of Isaiah 16Isaiah 16:3 word by word
הָבִ֤יאִי עֵצָה֙ עֲשׂ֣וּ פְלִילָ֔ה שִׁ֧יתִי כַלַּ֛יִל צִלֵּ֖ךְ בְּת֣וֹךְ צָהֳרָ֑יִם סַתְּרִי֙ נִדָּחִ֔ים נֹדֵ֖ד אַל־תְּגַלִּֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Takeבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): bringH935
- counselעֵצָה‛êtsâh · counselH6098
- executeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: offerH6213
- judgmentפְּלִילָהpelîylâh · judgeH6415
- makeשִׁיתshîyth · to set: makeH7896
- thy shadowצֵלtsêl · shadowH6738
- as the nightלַ֫יְלָהlayil lêyl layelâh · nightH3915
- in the midstתָּ֫וֶךְtâvek · midstH8432
- of the noondayצֹ֫הַרtsôhar · middayH6672
- hideסָתַרsâthar · to hideH5641
- the outcastsנָדַחnâdach · to banishH5080
- bewrayגָּלָהgâlâh · to reveal: revealH1540
- not him that wanderethנָדַדnâdad · to wanderH5074
Cross-references for Isaiah 16:3
- Isaiah 1:17Learn to do what is right! Promote justice! Give the oppressed reason to celebrate! Take up the cause of the orphan! Defend the rights of the widow!
- Psalms 82:3Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless! Vindicate the oppressed and suffering!
- Jeremiah 21:12O royal family descended from David. The Lord says: ‘See to it that people each day are judged fairly. Deliver those who have been robbed from those who oppress them. Otherwise, my wrath will blaze out against you. It will burn like a fire that cannot be put out because of the evil that you have done.
- Jeremiah 22:3The Lord says, “Do what is just and right. Deliver those who have been robbed from those who oppress them. Do not exploit or mistreat foreigners who live in your land, children who have no fathers, or widows. Do not kill innocent people in this land.
- Ezekiel 45:9“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction, and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of my people, declares the sovereign Lord.
- Daniel 4:27Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be prolonged.”
- Zechariah 7:9“The Lord who rules over all said, ‘Exercise true judgment and show brotherhood and compassion to each other.
- Isaiah 9:6For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us. He shoulders responsibility and is called: Extraordinary Strategist, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
- Isaiah 25:4For you are a protector for the poor, a protector for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rainstorm, a shade from the heat. Though the breath of tyrants is like a winter rainstorm,
- Isaiah 32:2Each of them will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from a rainstorm; like streams of water in a dry region and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.
- Judges 9:15The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to choose me as your king, then come along, find safety under my branches! Otherwise may fire blaze from the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’
- Jonah 4:5Jonah left the city and sat down east of it. He made a shelter for himself there and sat down under it in the shade to see what would happen to the city.
- Isaiah 56:8The sovereign Lord says this, the one who gathers the dispersed of Israel: “I will still gather them up.”
- Obadiah 1:12You should not have gloated when your relatives suffered calamity. You should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah when they were destroyed. You should not have boasted when they suffered adversity.
- Matthew 25:35For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
- Hebrews 13:2Do not neglect hospitality, because through it some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Commentaries on Isaiah 16:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Take counsel "Impart counsel" - The Vulgate renders the verbs in the beginning of this verse in the singular number, So the Keri; and so likewise sixty-one MSS. of Kennicott's and De Rossi's have it, and nineteen editions, and the Syriac. The verbs throughout the verse are also in the feminine gender; agreeing with Zion, which I suppose to be understood.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Take counsel - Hebrew, Bring counsel;‘ or cause it to come (הבאו hâbı̂'ı̂û or as it is in the keri הביאי ). The Vulgate, renders this in the singular number, and so is the keri, and so many manuscripts J. D. Michaelis, Lowth, Etchhorn, Gesenius, and Noyes, regard Isaiah 16:3-5 as a supplicatory address of the fugitive Moabites to the Jews to take them under their protection, and as imploring a blessing on the Jewish people if they would do it; and…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4do not betray … be a refuge: Moab's situation would become so desperate that they would ask for refuge in other countries.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3-53-5. Gesenius, Maurer, &c., regard these verses as an address of the fugitive Moabites to the Jews for protection; they translate Is 16:4, "Let mine outcasts of Moab dwell with thee, Judah"; the protection will be refused by the Jews, for the pride of Moab (Is 16:6). Vitringa makes it an additional advice to Moab, besides paying tribute. Give shelter to the Jewish outcasts who take refuge in thy land (Is 16:3, 4); so "mercy" will be shown thee in turn by…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 16:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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Commentaries